Also on today’s menu:
Bill Would Allow Minors To Seek Mental Health Treatment
Governor Would Sign Parental Rights Bill
Superiors Warned Teixeira To Focus On His Job
Twenty-seven-year-old John Kratz of Candia is scheduled to be arraigned today in Rockingham County Superior Court on second-degree murder charges in the death of 64-year-old John Kratz Jr. of Sandown.
Attorney-General John M. Formella and Derry Police Chief George Feole announced Kratz’s arrest following an investigation into the May 17 murder at the Lobster Claw II in Derry. Police arriving at the scene found the elder Kratz with a gunshot wound and he was taken to the Elliot Hospital in Manchester, where he was pronounced dead.
The victim was the owner of Corps Excavation in Sandown. Michael Garrity of the Attorney-General’s Office verified that Kratz was the uncle of the accused killer.
Bill Would Allow Minors To Seek Mental Health Treatment
House Bill 114 would change New Hampshire law to allow “a minor 16 years of age or older [to] voluntarily consent to mental health services” without parental permission, but still would require parental permission for prescription medication.
Supporters say the legislation would allow older teenagers to get help for mental health issues, some of which can lead to suicide. Representative Donald Bouchard (D-Manchester) said the bill would help youths who are homeless, live in unsupportive homes, or whose families do not accept LGBTQ people.
Senate Republicans have raised concerns that the bill would erode parental rights and increase the risk of children seeking counselors who might not be well-suited. Senator Bill Gannon (R-Sandown) argued that teenagers are too young to know whether they need counseling, and questioned the 16-year threshold. “You know the brain is not fully developed until 25,” said Gannon. “So I’m thinking 16, in a lot of cases, is too young and that it just doesn’t strike me as a mature age.”
Lisa Salin Davis, in a piece for The Free Press, cites another reason for skepticism: The mental health profession has been embracing Critical Social Justice (CSJ), a term some psychologists use to refer to social justice ideology, in the place of focusing on the individual.
According to CSJ, one’s identity categories are paramount to the therapeutic process. Neutrality and objectivity — once the cornerstones of the practice — are now tools of oppression and white supremacy. The major professional organizations for the therapeutic fields have in recent years produced scholarship, mission statements, position papers, and curriculums reflecting this newfound dogma, one that leads therapists to refashion themselves into social activists. …
Critics of this ideological turn have no trouble acknowledging that systemic racism, homophobia, and sexism exist, and that patients may be damaged by these forces. “Of course oppressions exist, of course unfairness,” says Carole Sherwood, a psychotherapist in the UK who has studied the impact of social justice on the field. But, she adds, “The whole idea of identity politics doesn’t fit with therapy because we look at individuals, we look at unique individuals. We don’t group people. The minute you start grouping people and slapping labels on them, you’re making assumptions.” …
Critics of the CSJ approach are concerned that therapists then focus on forces outside the client’s control, rather than empowering the patient to make positive personal change.
Governor Would Sign Parental Rights Bill
Governor Chris Sununu is likely to sign a bill codifying parental rights in education if it passes the New Hampshire House today. While LGBTQ groups and teachers’ unions have opposed the policy on the grounds that it could force teachers to give parents information about students against their will, Sununu noted that it would only happen if the parent asked the teacher for that information.
In an opinion piece for InDepthNH.org, representatives Mel Myler and Linda Tanner acknowledge that the bill reiterates existing rights of parents to be informed of disciplinary and medical events involving their children at school, and that, “In most cases, there would be no harm in a teacher informing Jeff’s parents that they’ve been asked to be referred to as Jess at school. The child is either expressing themselves similarly at home already, or the parents will be supportive of their exploration of identity.
“Sadly, not every child comes from a supportive family. More than one in three adults report that they would be uncomfortable if their child came out as transgender or nonbinary, and many teens who are exploring their gender identity experience stress over the prospect of informing unsupportive parents.”
Sununu countered, “[I]f a teacher thinks there is going to be specific harm to a child, or an abusive situation, then there is an outlet there, too. So, a teacher has options as well. [The bill] really addresses all of that.”
Superiors Warned Teixeira To Focus On His Job
United States prosecutors have argued in a court filing that Jack Teixeira should remain in detention because of his “willful disregard” for protecting information after he had been warned twice by his supervisors — once when seen taking notes and putting them in his pocket and again after he went to a classified briefing and posed “very specific questions” about what was discussed. His superiors told him to stop and “focus on his job”, according to the court filing.
The FBI arrested the 21-year-old on April 14, charging him with the unauthorized transmission and retention of defense materials after dozens of classified files appeared in the online chat room Discord. The files included sensitive information about U.S. allies and the war in Ukraine.
A judge is expected to hear arguments on May 19 on whether Teixeira should remain in detention until his trial.
Do you have a story to tell?
The News Café is a virtual meeting place where, each weekday, we discuss the news of the day: local, statewide, national, and international.
Subscribers can share their knowledge, thoughts, and questions about any topic, and we may select some of those subjects for more in-depth analysis.
If you’re unable to pay but still want to receive all of the free public posts in your in-box, click the Subscribe button and select a free subscription.
Visit us at www.libertymedianh.org
Join in the conversation through chat or notes by downloading the Substack app or going to the online site.
Also see our new Substack news site, By The Way.